All reports must be reviewed and accepted by registered County personnel before development can be approved. There is a fee for report review, which is either paid in conjunction with a Building Permit application or at the Zoning Counter if the soils report is submitted as part of a Development (Discretionary) Permit.

Report review focuses on the completeness of the reports as compared with code requirements, engineering practice and an overall review of the findings and conclusions of the reports to determine whether they adequately address soils and geologic concerns. The soils report must be based upon the same set of California Building Codes that the plans are designed to, and must address the requirements of the building code. If the report(s) are found to have deficiencies, a letter will be mailed to the consultant and the applicant describing the deficiencies.

When the report is accepted, the owner will be notified of its acceptance and any special requirements such as the need for the Soils Engineer to review the final plans for conformance with report recommendations.

After issuance of the building permit, the County requires your soils engineer to be involved during construction. Several letters or reports are required to be submitted to the County at various times during construction. They are as follows:

When a project has engineered fills and / or grading, a letter from your soils engineer must be submitted to the appropriate Planning Department staff prior to foundations being excavated. This letter must state that the grading has been completed in conformance with the recommendations of the soils report. Compaction reports or a summary thereof must be submitted.

Prior to placing concrete for foundations, a letter from the soils engineer must be submitted to the building inspector and to the appropriate Planning Department staff stating that the soils engineer has observed the foundation excavation and that it meets the recommendations of the soils report.

At the completion of construction, a final letter from your soils engineer is required to be submitted to the appropriate Planning Department staff that summarizes the observations and the tests the soils engineer has made during construction. The final letter must also state the following: "Based upon our observations and tests, the project has been completed in conformance with our geotechnical recommendations."

If the final soils letter identifies any items of work remaining to be completed or that any portions of the project were not observed by the soils engineer, you will be required to complete the remaining items of work and may be required to perform destructive testing in order for your permit to obtain a final inspection